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Smith: Hospitality flows openly at Opryland

NASHVILLE — It is an adventure when you take up temporary residence at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, which has just become a Marriott property. My guess is that the conservative corporate Mormons won’t change much about Opryland as they take over the facility — unless they put in a GPS system for those who have difficulty finding their rooms.

The first time I stayed here, I concluded that Lewis and Clark would have had difficulty finding their way around. Opryland is so big, they start decorating for Christmas in June. There are more than 2 million lights, 10 miles of ribbon, 15 miles of garland and more than 35,000 poinsettias. The Christmas trees stand 40 feet, and wreaths are 18 feet tall. Some of the trees hold 10,000 lights.

The hotel covers 52 acres. My guess is that you could put the new Cowboys Stadium inside the Opryland complex. Stay here a few days, and you don’t have to spend any time in the fitness center. Just walk to each of the conservatories or to a different restaurant (there are at least a dozen) for each of your meals. Bellmen, according to a fact sheet supplied by the hotel, walk about 12 miles a day. I did notice that none of the bellmen are overweight.

Opryland has its own river — the Delta. You might even see a small wooden boat plying its waters as you sit at one of the outdoor restaurants. The Delta is a quarter-mile long, which means it probably is the largest indoor river in the world. It contains 394,474 gallons of water. When the Delta atrium was opened, people came from all over the world with water from their local streams and poured it into the river.

Everywhere you go there is water. You feel like you are in a rain forest all hours of the day. Water spews from limitless fountains, and palm trees abound in every conservatory. If a reggae band showed up at one of Opryland’s island restaurants, you might think you were in Ocho Rios or the Grand Caymans.

If you had to take inventory of all the plants in the Garden, Delta and Cascade conservatories, it would take you a month, since there are almost 50,000 plants in existence. Everything is green, tropical and refreshing.

There are coffee shops like Bravo Gelato, where a nice lady named Lisa greets customers as early as 5 a.m. She gets up at 2:30 a.m. to arrive at Opryland in time to be ready for those early risers who are anxious for that first cup of coffee. There is good news about Lisa’s early morning routine. She often spends the weekend at the 35-acre farm she and her husband, Ross, own 45 minutes away.

Lisa is like the rest of the Opryland staff — friendly, hospitable and accommodating. Over at the registration desk, three pretty young girls — Tabitha, Anna and Holly — take time, during a lull, to explain that they like their nightly routine. They come to work about 10 p.m. and get off at 7. “Well,” Tabitha laughed, “if we are really busy for some reason, we get to stay longer.”

These are nice people working different times of a 24-hour period and giving appreciation for customer service the highest priority. For those of us who start our days early, they are there to offer a dose of good cheer to go with that first cup of coffee. They want to make your day.

Opryland is an exciting place to visit. Even after three decades, it remains fresh, looks like new and is staffed by people who overpower you with hospitality, always gushing forth refreshingly like the fountains that abound throughout the complex.